Experience The Beauty Of Mathematics With Math Fair Attendees

Almost 15 years ago I was recruited by my former boss who said, “I know this may be a step down for you now, but this organization has so much potential. I know you will grow with them.” Wow, was she right. Not only did I find a supportive and caring family here at MIND Research Institute, but I became part of a powerful movement.

When I started at MIND, we had just a few hundred 2nd grade students using ST Math in the classroom and now over 1 millionstudents are learning and enjoying math through the program!

Affecting over one million students is a wonderful achievement, but we wanted to further support students going deeper into their understanding of math. We need to empower parents and engage whole communities. We need to show (not tell) everyone how math is fun and exciting, and all around us.

We started with the idea of a pop-up math museum: a free, family-friendly event designed to excite young minds as they interact with mathematically-themed activities, games, exhibits and performances.

On November 5, 2016, MIND Research Institute, along with our local partners and sponsors, presented the third year of MIND’s Math Fair, welcoming over 5,000 attendees. I can tell you how fun it was, but why don’t you experience the Math Fair for yourself through this video:

Following the first Math Math Fair in 2014, we created the MathMINDs initiative around outside of the classroom learning. In these past three years we have impacted over 30,000 minds of all ages, through Family Math Night events, the K-12 Game-a-thon challenge, and other free community events. The ultimate goal of MathMINDs is for families to go home and continue the mathematical conversations. We want to empower everyone to explore math because all minds are MathMINDs.

“The Math Fair is a small part of something much bigger and much greater that MIND Research Institute is doing.”

-Dharna Patel, volunteer.

A big thank you to everyone at MIND and outside of MIND who is helping to make Math Fair and MathMINDs a sucess; especially Mike Limon, Director of MathMINDs, and Brandon Smith, Lead Mathematician!

About the Author

Maria Cervantes is a Community Partnerships Director at MIND Research Institute. Find her on Twitter @magucervantes1.